Jamshedpur, July 14: A CRPF sub-inspector was killed and nine policemen, including seven of the state police force, were seriously injured in grenade blast during training at Kiriburu in West Singhbhum district on Saturday morning.

CRPF officer Raghavendra Singh and two jawans from Battalion 132 of CRPF were on a special assignment to train the jawans and officers from the state police in using hand grenades and other explosives to fight Naxalites in the Saranda forests area.

Saranda forests area in West Singhbhum has become a Naxalite den for the past few years prompting both the police and paramilitary force like the CRPF to organise training camps to combat the rebels.

According to deputy inspector-general of police Ram Lakhan Prasad, the accident took place around 10am when Singh was training state police jawans.

The officer was on a special assignment to provide training to handle explosives to those posted in Naxalite-affected areas.

“The grenade slipped from Singh’s hand by mistake. The blast was so powerful that it killed the officer, while injuring the jawans standing at some distance,” said Prasad, adding that all nine injured have been admitted to Kiriburu General Hospital.

The sub-divisional police officer of Kiriburu, Amol Homkar, said all the nine injured have been kept under observation and doctors are conducting different pathological tests to assess their condition.

“In case we feel that the injured require treatment at a better hospital, we would transfer them to Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur,” said Homkar.